Operation: Roll Out

[initiates]

Date & Time: January 31st - February 4th, Present Day Exsilium Time
Location: Neo Las Vegas, in what formerly was called Turkey.
Characters: All Transports!
Summary: Transports have been sent to Neo Las Vegas to gather information on the origin point of the United Earth and the UE AI. Conference sabotage and the rest is expected and invited!
Warnings: Gambling and alcoholic beverages quite likely! Please PM the mod account for anything else.

By day, the landscape isn't desert, precisely, so much as it is dry. Winter's settled in and found in the biting chill of the wind when it finds you standing on the street. Hovercars and taxis thrum down the cobblestone streets, cavorting and honking like a noisy crowd of inelegant, overweight geese. Men walk by on stilts half in make-up, on their way back to their stage for the next night. Walks of shame are taken proudly in this district, one of the few approved and sanctioned vacation zones in the United Earth.

Evidence of law enforcement can be found all around, but they seem altogether too pleased to be there too. Talk with any one of them about crime rates, and they're liable to laugh at the idea. Those who come to gamble know the house is rigged to win. It's not about making or breaking the bank -- people whose funds dip too low are politely escorted back to their rooms and given a set of normal playing cards -- but it is about enjoyment.

Of the flesh too, and it'd be difficult to find anyone working in Neo Las Vegas who suffers from modesty, or anyone visiting who seems unwilling to politely ask visitors and staff if they'd like to keep them company for the night. In fact, Transports may find themselves needing to turn down multiple such requests! The refusal is always taken well. These are people looking to have a good time, and that's all.

No chance taken, nothing gained, right?

At night, the city really comes alive, the lights in all the hotels and casinos turning the Neo Las Vegas Strip into a carnival of sensation. Drinks and recreational drugs are freely passed around, men and women engage in a variety of sexual and other hedonistic excesses without regret, and the beautiful interiors and ostentatious or playful exteriors of the buildings hide and reveal a rich tapestry of events, delectables, and desires waiting to be fulfilled.

Neo Las Vegas is a fun place, and it is a safe place, and it is Where the Conferences For Our Future Are Made. Playtime is on, gang.

Comments

[urbanmagic]

... They sound like video game bad guys. [But okay, she'll keep an eye out of them.

Though whoa, back up.] Fifteen? That's too much of a jump. [...] Must be really awkward.

[controlledvariable]

Maybe one of those fantasty ones, but basically.

[Well. World of Warcraft. Close enough.]

Little bit, at least I didn't know 'em that well back home, so I didn't have too many expectations.

[More importantly, though, they've reached the bar, and Steph lets go of Traci's arm so she can fish her wallet out of her pocket.]

Pick your poison, Miss Thirteen.

[urbanmagic]

[Understandable, Traci avoided a lot of close relationships with the superhero community with good reason.] Confession: Never drank in my life. Wouldn't even know what to choose.

[controlledvariable]

Are you telling me you don't get up to all sorts of mischief?

[Steph pls.]

What kinda flavours do you like? We can start with something sweet if you want.

[urbanmagic]

Of course I do, but considering who I'm dating and the people I hang out with? Mischief comes more along the lines of fighting baddies and trying to get a decent date.

[A pause as she considers.] Sweet works. You're drinking with me, right?

[controlledvariable]

It's funny how that kinda stuff gets old. I still expect my dates to get crashed by supervillains even though I'm dating a lawyer.

[Rather than another vigilante.]

And nah, I was just gonna watch you get drunk and laugh.

[Her tone indicates she's joking, as does the fact she orders two of those cocktails with moscato and grenadine because she's forgotten the name of them.]

[urbanmagic]

Tell me about it. [She rolls her eyes, though--] Oh, lawyer, you say? [Let the gossip begin?

She shakes her head and laughs at that, accepting the drink when it comes. She's going to end up holding that one all night, really, and maybe down it when they leave.]

Would've been pretty boring, I figured. So, what have you been up since you got to Exsilium?

[controlledvariable]

Yeah, he's around somewhere. [She waves a hand back towards the conference hall.] Probably chatting up some pretty scientist or something.

[Which she doesn't seem at all bothered by; she's more interested in the cocktail.

It's full of sugar and tastes like strawberries, what more do you need?

Actually, she needs a second to think how to answer that, but after a moment:]

Well, I stole a spaceship, dated a girl, died a few times, slept with a kitrite which is kinda like an elf, rode a virtual reality broomstick, fought zombies, danced with Anne Boleyn, befriended god, hung out with the second Robin in the wild west, and went swimming in the Cretaceous period. I've eaten mutant deer, penguin, and what was probably walrus. For a little while I could teleport, my best friend is a werewolf, and I lived on the moon for a few months, during which time I had my emotions temporarily removed. And now I'm sharing an apartment with my boyfriend and two teenagers who might as well be my little brother and sister. [a beat, and she grins.] Anything else you wanna know about?

[Steph pls]

[urbanmagic]

I got stuck on 'died a few times' and then skipped to emotions temporarily removed. [Well, no, she listened to every one of them, but still.] Okay, I don't even know where to begin asking, and my life is pretty much an adventure already.

Let's start with that first point I mentioned. Is it a time-travel thing again?

[controlledvariable]

[Gosh Traci way to focus on the boring things!!]

Kinda. The Initiative - the guys in charge - have technology that can resurrect you. From what I can tell, it's sort of like a 'game over, restart' kind of deal. 'Cause after I died, my body was exactly how it was when I'd first arrived.

[urbanmagic]

[Don't worry she's going to focus on the rest once she's clarified these.] Huh. That's... strangely convenient, if not disturbing. No consequences?

[controlledvariable]

It's not working at the moment, just so you know.

[Because Steph had been reckless during battle knowing that she could come back. She doesn't want Traci thinking there's a get out of jail free card when there isn't.]

Aside from the reset and the fact you lose a few hours, I never had any side effects. Even if we get the tech back, I won't be doing it again 'cause I don't wanna lose my tattoos.

[a perfectly sensible reason to not want to die.]

[urbanmagic]

Yikes. Good call on the warning. [Not that she was going to try it, but hey, you never know what might happen. She takes a sip of the drink, deciding that okay, got enough info on that, time to move away from the grimmer topic.] Though really-- how did you even end up in the Cretaceous period? Met any of the last dinosaurs there?

[controlledvariable]

We were collecting sand 'cause of the minerals in it. Raw materials for something or other. [She shrugs.] Mostly it was just for a holiday, I think. The Initiative knew we needed it.

[After all the bombs and sickness, but she doesn't feel like discussing that.]

But yeah, I saw some dinosaurs, but only little ones. They had a barrier up to keep the bigs ones out.

[urbanmagic]

I, personally, would've loved to have gotten that far back to see anything like that. The oldest I've seen were ghost pirates. Not far enough in history for my liking.

Guess you couldn't bring any back home with you, could you?

[controlledvariable]

It was pretty awesome, and the water was really nice.

[It was one of the good times, between the mess of everything else. It was before things started going to shit.]

Nothing living. We can bring inanimate objects, but plants or animals can't make the trip.

[urbanmagic]

[She nods, guessing as much. She doubted they could survive a sudden shift in atmosphere, and of course there were a lot of other factors in play.]

Hmm, would've been fun if you did. Dinosaurs, anyone?

And the lawyer? Was he with you by then?

[controlledvariable]

Oh, um, I was still with Ellie back then. But she got sent home at the start of October.

[She's just gonna - focus on her drink for a second because thinking about Ellie is hard.]

[urbanmagic]

[... Oh. Oops.] Right. Um... [Bad topic.] Sorry, I didn't realize. You okay?

[controlledvariable]

[She waves a hand.]

It's fine, I just miss her. But she's hopefully better off back home.

[She's probably not, but Steph can hope.]

[urbanmagic]

[Hope's one thing that Traci's got a lot of, so she raises her glass and gives her a smile.] To good things for good people, then?

[controlledvariable]

[And Steph gently clinks her glass against Traci's.]

Good things for all people.

[She can't help thinking of Jesse.]

[urbanmagic]

[...] You've got someone else in mind, don't you?

[controlledvariable]

A few, actually. Things aren't as black and white here as they are at home.

[Even Ellie might not be considered a good person, depending on who you ask. She was a war criminal, after all.]

[urbanmagic]

Things are never so black and white. I try to avoid being Lady Liberty for a reason. [Sure, she investigates stuff, but she never tosses the bad guys in jail. That's the job of the actual super heroes.] I'm guessing a few friends along the way?